Attached Images

Hi ET
Nice shot but the background view of the coral makes it cluttered and distracting. Next time try shooting upwards too against the water to get a clean background, or 'negative space'. Or you can use as small an aperture as possible to make the background as dark as possible.

But the photo itself is a tad green. Were you zoomed in at all or on the widest setting? Seems that the flash only just touched the cuttle and so didn't give it much colour. If the sunpak is what i think it is it is a tiny little flash? You might want to add some sort of diffuser and spread the beam a little more to get more even lighting across your main subject.

Hi ETNice shot but the background view of the coral makes it cluttered and distracting. Next time try shooting upwards too against the water to get a clean background, or 'negative space'. Or you can use as small an aperture as possible to make the background as dark as possible.

Thank you very much for your advise. For olympus C4000Z, the smallest aperature I can achieve is f11. However this shot was taken with an aperature of f6.3. I do agree about the distracting background and shooting against the water is a good idea. I'll keep it in mind for my next dive in Dec.

But the photo itself is a tad green. Were you zoomed in at all or on the widest setting? Seems that the flash only just touched the cuttle and so didn't give it much colour. If the sunpak is what i think it is it is a tiny little flash? You might want to add some sort of diffuser and spread the beam a little more to get more even lighting across your main subject.

Auto settings or manual?But its a great shot and definite keeper

Thank you very much for your advise. I did zoomed in for this shot but i think I did not set the flash power higher enough to bring out the beauty of the cuttlefish. Yap i had the diffuser on at all times. Would you recommend a wide zoom for this type of shot?

The shot was taken using manual settings and the settings are :ISO-100, f6.3, 1/100, front curtain flash. The Sunpak G-flash is a slave flash without ETTL sync, hence i have to adjust the output power manually.

If you constantly remind yourself to avoid "dreef" backgrounds, as soon as you see a subject like that cuttlefish, you'll immediately begin positioning yourself to get some blue water in the background.

Here's an example. This lionfish is only a 1 megapixel photo and was taken with NO flash (using the still function of a Sony DCR-PC100).

The thing that makes it a somewhat interesting photo (considering the low resolution and lack of lighting) is the isolation of the lionfish against the blue background. If you imagine your cuttlefish (a far better photo of the main subject) with a similar background, it would be a stunning photograph.

Bruce Yateswww.UnderwaterReflections.com
Canon 5DMkII in Aquatica, 1DsMkII in Seacam, G15 in RecSea...Inon Z240's...too many lenses"If at first you don't succeed, try, try again. Then quit. No use being a damned fool about it." WC Fields

Sometimes a little bit of red light makes it onto a subject even when we don't realise it. In those cases, adjusting the WB (in RAW) or a little PS work (hardly any in this case, Auto-Color and Color Balance, 30sec max), help to bring out the colors.

If you constantly remind yourself to avoid "dreef" backgrounds, as soon as you see a subject like that cuttlefish, you'll immediately begin positioning yourself to get some blue water in the background.

Here's an example. This lionfish is only a 1 megapixel photo and was taken with NO flash (using the still function of a Sony DCR-PC100).

The thing that makes it a somewhat interesting photo (considering the low resolution and lack of lighting) is the isolation of the lionfish against the blue background. If you imagine your cuttlefish (a far better photo of the main subject) with a similar background, it would be a stunning photograph.

Thank you so much for the valuable advise, Bruce. Now after all the advices from the experts, I'm have a much better idea on taking such shots. It is really an enriching experience to learn from you guys. The very thing I have to keep reminding myself now is to avoid "dreef" background.

Sometimes a little bit of red light makes it onto a subject even when we don't realise it. In those cases, adjusting the WB (in RAW) or a little PS work (hardly any in this case, Auto-Color and Color Balance, 30sec max), help to bring out the colors.

Thank you Matt. I took this shot with the WB set to cloudy. I don't think i can shoot RAW using the Olympus C4000Z, hence I guess, PS will come in handy. Thanks for the admendment, the it does make the subject stands out.

Hi Eddie
I dive in Dayang too sometimes, being based in Singapore.
BTW here is an example of a cuttlefish shot I took with an upwards angle. Note that the absence of a cluttered background makes the cuttlefish stand out more.

Hi Eddie
I have the UCL 165Ad Inon macro lens you describe and I recommend it. I used it with my Canon S45, same as your 4 megapixel Olympus C4000Z and have taken many good macro shots. Here's one of a blue-spotted stingray's eye.
Thanks.
Marcus

Attached Images

Hi EddieI have the UCL 165Ad Inon macro lens you describe and I recommend it. I used it with my Canon S45, same as your 4 megapixel Olympus C4000Z and have taken many good macro shots. Here's one of a blue-spotted stingray's eye.Thanks.Marcus

Thank you very much Marcus. This is very encouraging. I just check out the price and stock availability today, in which I will probably get it next month.